Sonicsgate: A sad story well-told

If you want to re-live all the anger and despair and frustration over the NBA’s departure from Seattle, local filmmakers Jason Reid and Adam Brown have done an excellent job with their newly released documentary called “Sonicsgate.”

The beauty of the film is you can watch it for free on the Internet at sonicsgate.org or simply by clicking on it here.

But give yourselves a two-hour window to watch the whole thing. It’s a long journey and my only criticism is the producers spend too much time at the start replaying Sonics history before getting into the meat of the team’s departure.

But once it gets going, there are insightful interviews with many of the key participants in the city’s court trial against Clay Bennett, including lead lawyers Brad Keller and Paul Lawrence, along with Wally Walker and city attorney Tom Carr.

Lots of media members and NBA players provide their thoughts, including Nick Collison, who found himself caught up as an athlete who loved living in Seattle but was an employee of a franchise bound for Oklahoma City.

I love the footage of fans chanting outside the courthouse and one piece where the cameraman chases after Bennett and screams at the Sonics’ owner as he departs out a back door into the safety of an SUV that whisked him away.

Sherman Alexie delivers the fan perspective in poetic form, his raw love for the game a vivid reminder of what sports can mean to those who embrace it as well as the helplessness individual supporters of a team face when matched against the corporate powers that control professional leagues.

In the end, the film doesn’t change anything, of course. If you were a Sonics fan, it leaves you wondering why all over again. But there is value in documenting the history and the background of this sad segment of Seattle sports history and as one who followed the trial and reported on it throughout, I’m glad to see this effort was made to preserve the story for all to see.